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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
World
Emma Henderson

San Jose galleon shipwreck with £1 billion treasure found off Colombia, says President Juan Manuel Santos

Colombia has found the wreck of a Spanish galleon that is thought to hold treasure worth £1 billion.

The wreck was found off the coast of Catagena,  according to Juan Manuel Santos, the country’s president and supposedly is full of emeralds and gold and silver coins.

Mr Santos tweeted: “Great news! We have found the San Jose galleon. Tomorrow we will provide details at a press conference from Cartagena.”

The ship sank on June 8 1708 in the Caribbean Sean near to the city of Cartagena and it thought to be one of the world’s most valuable shipwrecks.

It was part of the fleet that fought the English during the War of the Spanish Succession that belonged to King Phillip V.

American salvagers, Sea Search Armada (SSA) claimed to have found the wreckage site in 1981.

But a battle over who owns the shipwreck between the Colombian government and SSA was resolved in 2011.

The Supreme Court rules that Colombia held the rights to items deemed to be “national cultural patrimony.”

Anything else would be halved between the US salvage company SSA and Colombia.  

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